P.M. BRIEFING : Three Equities Markets Form After-Hours Trading Network

Three equities markets announced this morning they have reached a definitive agreement to trade through the night using a computer network.

The Chicago Board Options Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Cincinnati Stock Exchange hope to capture some of the trading conducted abroad when it is nighttime in the United States.

The computer network will be provided by Reuters Holdings PLC.

The exchanges expect the system will begin working in two to three years, officials said at news conferences in New York and Chicago.

The CBOE and AMEX would handle their stock options through the system and the Cincinnati Stock Exchange would offer U.S.-traded stocks.

Many of the details of how the system will work have yet to be determined, officials of the exchanges said at the press conferences, which were linked via television. The CBOE will build and operate the main computer for the system and Reuters will build the network that provides traders access to the markets’ computer.

Other exchanges, specifically the New York Stock Exchange and the Tokyo Exchange, have been invited to join the system, officials said.